The Value of Semantic Interoperability for Healthcare

How do we, as humans, convey meaning? Through speech, the written word, body language, other subtle cues or most importantly a combination of these. Around the world we have different ways or words to represent the same meaning.

What do you take when you go to the beach? Flip flops? Jandals? Maybe a pair of thongs? These are just some variations in the English language, not to mention international languages. Ultimately, they are all describing the same thing.

In healthcare, conveying and interpreting clinical meaning is complex, especially when it comes to a CIS. Healthcare professionals already spend a significant amount of their time understanding and interpreting complex intricacies and relationships between clinical data. The need to use data to link disorders, medications, diagnostic imaging (and much more) along with specific individual patient attributes, is vital in all professional roles.

Does your health service understand the benefits of a clinical information system (CIS) that supports clinical terminology systems and services?